The Shelf (Dead-End Ave) Read online

  Bri had realized early on that Gerald was crushin’ on her, when he started leaving a fresh picked flower pinned to her locker each morning. It would have been really sweet, except for the fact that they were petunias, and Bri was mildly allergic to them. But she had never found the heart to tell Gerald that fact, not even as he continued to ask every afternoon, “Did you see your flower?”

  Promising herself that she would find Gerald a girlfriend, she pasted a fake, SUPER FAKE smile on her face and faced him.

  “Hi Bri!”

  “Hey! How’s Applied Mathematics, Gerald?”

  “Better since all of your help,” he beamed, face radiating excitement. “Hey, do you want to-,”

  ‘Whatever it is, nope.’ “Look, I’ve got to run. My friend is waiting for me inside the restroom,” she cut in smoothly, hoping that he didn’t pick up on that obvious slight. “Catch up with you later?”

  Gerald frowned a bit, but then smiled. “Oh, um…sure. See you.”

  “Laters.” Bri finger-waved, and then pushed against the restroom door. Begrudgingly, the door creaked its way open as if unwilling to allow visitors. A gross, rotted odor assaulted Bri’s nose and she gasped, gagging. Stepping into the silent room, she covered her nose with one hand and gripped the doorknob with the other. And stopped cold.

  Shanice stood in the middle of the floor, shivers wracking her body. Bri froze, mouth ajar. The glint from the large knife Shanice held against her own throat caught her eye. Before she could say anything, the other girl drew the knife across her throat, blood running like a sheet down her chest. A feeling of light-headedness and nausea swept over Bri like a blanket, and she could feel the press of the knife against her own skin. A rapid, stinging slice….hot, sticky blood bursting from her throat….the sudden menacing voice at her ear….

  WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO TRY THAT?

  Bri screamed. And fainted.

  “Bri? Bri!”

  The person standing over her was insistent with their calling. Fuzzily, she tried to pull herself together.

  “Bri, listen to me.”

  And now Bri’s eyes popped wide open at the sound of Aeryal’s irritated voice. Her friend stood over her, a slightly exasperated look on her face. She opened her mouth to ask how, but instead her friend just cut her off.

  “Listen, Bri, you need to stop blocking me. I know you are, but you need to let me in now. It’s very important. I need to talk to you and I don’t have much time left to come here. Things are already beginning to happen to you.”

  “Aeryal,” was all Bri could whisper. She must have hit her head when she had fallen, and now she was delusional. Her dream-Aeryal even wrinkled her nose the same way Aeryal used to when she was really pissed.

  “Now I’m crazy,” she muttered.

  “You’re not crazy! Ok, just listen, I’ll tell you what-,”

  “Bri?” Something pungent was shoved under her nose, and her nostrils burned from the sudden assault of fumes. “Wake up, Bri!”

  When she opened her eyes again, lying halfway in, halfway out of the restroom, Shanice, not to mention everyone else in Fantasy, was bending over her, concerned. “Bri! Are you ok?”

  “Ugh,” she groaned, hand drifting to massage her aching scalp. Ten to one, she had managed to smash it into the door frame or something when she fell. It would be just her luck that she hadn’t fainted gracefully. ‘What happened?’

  Then it came back to her: the shiny knife glinting with a malicious knowing, her friend’s terror as she clutched the horrible instrument to her throat, Bri’s terrible agony as the knife sliced.

  Her head pounded. Shanice stood along with the crowd, with not a scratch on her. Bri’s eyes widened, though it hurt to do so. Hadn’t she JUST watched Shanice slit her own throat? It hadn’t been a hallucination; she knew what she saw! Almost of their own will, her fingers rose and gingerly probed her throat. Relief overwhelmed her as she discovered that her own throat had not been cut either.

  “Shanice? Are you okay?” she managed, reaching one hand to her friend. Deanna, who stood right behind, exchanged looks with Shanice.

  “Is she okay? Are you okay? You just walked into the restroom and then passed out like you saw a ghost or something. Something’s up with you, girl.”

  Struggling to sit, Bri gave a grateful smile to Chas, who helped her ease up. A sigh escaped her lips at Deanna’s ranting. Sometimes, her friend made too much of everything. Really, Bri would have just preferred for this all to blow over, instead of having a big crowd standing around, gawking at her.

  “…to think, I actually defended you when Rob said you were on drugs. You’re losing it, Bri. This is totally embarrassing! Everyone is looking, and you’re obviously strung out or something…..”

  With another sigh, Bri tuned out. Deanna didn’t mean any harm, but she was wayyy irritating. Back on her feet, Bri let Chas keep his arm around her as they headed back to the table.

  ‘Wouldn’t you like to try that….’ Bri forced the horrible voice from her mind.

  Shanice moved her out of the way as she tried unsuccessfully to collect her things. Frowning at the strawberry smoothie that had slipped through her shaking fingers, Bri grabbed some napkins to sop it up. Gently, Shanice nudged her away again. “I’ll get that.”

  All she could do was stand back and watch her friend soak napkins in the thick, red mixture, trying in vain to clean it. But it was too much to wipe up, and bright red liquid still blanketed the table. ‘Like blood,’ Bri thought grimly.

  Tossing some money in a clean spot on the table, her friend grabbed their purses. “Let’s go.”

  “We’re staying,” Deanna called from where she and Rob were already seated comfortably at another booth. “There’s a party tonight, but you need to stay home and get some rest, Bri. But don’t worry, we’ll have fun for you.”

  “Gosh, D. Thought you were really worried about me there,” Bri muttered under her breath. How had she forgotten? The only thing her vain friend worried about was guys. To be honest, she wasn’t even completely sure that Deanna actually cared about Aeryal’s death. It was just over an hour since they had left Aeryal in the graveyard, and already Deanna was focused on a party that evening?

  “Oh, just ignore her,” Shanice said loudly, as they walked.

  They took her home, with Shanice insisting that she get rest, a lot of it. Trying to protest was a waste of time. Since she didn’t have a car, once her friends dropped her off, she would be stranded at home. Couldn’t go anywhere.

  ‘Oh well,’ she thought, ‘maybe they’re right. Maybe I do need some rest.’

  “Do you want me to come in with you?” Shanice asked as Bri slid out of the backseat and began to cross her lawn. Glancing back at the car, she almost smiled at Shanice’s motherly concern.

  She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

  Whether or not she actually believed that, was the thing. As she closed the front door behind herself, a yawn threatened to split her head in two. “So I am tired,” she mumbled. “Guess that’s why I dropped out in Fantasy, huh?” she asked her reflection in the large mirror in the foyer.

  Headed straight to her bedroom, Bri had every intention of going to bed and not rising until the next morning. Even though it was barely mid-afternoon.

  Sliding under the covers, she was ready to get her mind off of her problems. “Nothing like a good rest to make everything better.” Her purse lay on the ground next to the bed and she pulled it up next to her. Rummaging through, she smiled as her fingers closed around the little bottle that she was seeking.

  “… you need to stop blocking me…Things are already beginning to happen to you.”

  That freaky dream she’d had in Fantasy was coming back to her. As much as she feared having visions of dead bodies in her dreams, she couldn’t ignore the panicked look on her friend’s face, or her urgent tone. Or the voice that had whispered, ‘Wouldn’t you like to try that….’

  Even though the idea was crazy….Bri couldn’
t help thinking ‘what if?’

  Gazing at her savior, the trusty bottle of sleeping pills, Bri fought with herself until the illogical won out. “All right, Aeryal. If you have something to say, now is the time for it.” She re-capped the bottle and slid it onto her nightstand without taking any.

  And slept a long, deep, uninterrupted sleep.

  CHAPTER

  4

  Sunday found her in bed, and by the time school on Monday morning rolled around, she was feeling like herself again.

  “Who’s that?” Deanna licked her lips, trying to be sexy. Privately, Bri thought she looked hungry. Or thirsty, whichever. But she had to agree with Deanna’s line of thinking. The boy crossing the campus with Chas was a hunk. “Bad boy approaching,” her friend mouthed.

  Though average-built, he managed to make popular Chas look like a plain Joe. Chas was the taller of the two, but the new guy’s presence towered. It wasn’t so much that he was drop dead handsome, more that he had a devil-may-care expression that said he didn’t give damn. About anything. Very attractive.

  As his gaze slid over their group, Bri allowed herself to revel in the tiny sliver of attraction that was working its way up from her stomach. He was smooth mocha skin from head to toe, with a long, lean body rippling with muscles and close-shaven hair. Just enough facial stubble clung to his face to be stylishly attractive. Deanna was completely correct this time around. Bad. Boy. His gaze was one of chocolate velvet, and when it stopped on her, she gulped. Bri liked. A lot.

  Wistfully, Bri watched the stranger approach, but kept her comments to herself. What was the point? Whoever he was, once he arrived at the table, since he was obviously heading their way, Deanna was bound to work her charms on him. She watched him in awe as he neared, his confident swagger similar to a well-fed lion strolling among a herd of gazelle.

  Bri sighed to herself. “NOT like I had a chance, anyway,” she mumbled under her breath. Any new guy to the school would take one look at Deanna’s long, leggy figure and her high cheekbones capped by a sleek, modern haircut, and stop there. Short girls like Bri didn’t stand a chance. Especially not short girls with round button noses and curling baby hairs that ringed a small face buried under a mountain of curls. And especially not short girls that could only reach to a guy’s shoulder, even in a pair of 4-inch heels.

  To be fair, if Bri had to rate her best feature, aside from her hair, she would say her lips, which Aeryal had once described as ‘pouty’. Bri tried to remember that whenever faced with ‘hot guy’ situations. Such as this one.

  “Hey crew.” That was Chas. Bri raised her head to see him and the handsome guy standing at the end of the table. As predicted, the new guy was staring at Deanna appreciatively. Of course, that could be because Deanna was beckoning him to sit by her and already moving her stuff aside to make space.

  Chas turned to the stranger. “Korey, these are my friends. My girlfriend Shanice Warren, Rob Nunez, Deanna Rubaine and Bri Brewley.” He pointed at each one in turn. “Guys, this is Korey Parsons. He just transferred from up north.”

  “Hi, Korey,” said Shanice and Deanna in unison.

  “Hey,” he nodded back.

  Opening her mouth to add her greeting, Bri was suddenly struck by a sudden memory of the first day she’d met Aeryal. Frowning as a pang of grief rolled over her, she wondered why that thought had suddenly come to her.

  The new guy seemed to be waiting for her hello, but catching her frown, he simply turned to Rob and gave him a quick nod. Bri could have kicked herself. Now she looked totally and completely like a jerk.

  ‘Really, Bri,’ she chided herself, ‘you could have at least given the guy a smile or something.’

  The sigh slipped from her lips before she could stop it, and the new guy glanced at her again, this time with a frown of his own. It was obvious that he thought her sudden attitude had to do with him.

  Trying on her best smile on for size, Bri began, “So Korey, where did you move from?” exactly at the same time the bell sounded overhead. Her friends all got to their feet, including Korey, who clearly hadn’t heard her meager attempt at friendliness.

  “So, guys, Korey’s going to roll with us sometimes, part of the crew. Least we can do is introduce him to the right people, show him around, that sort of stuff.” Chas sent his uneaten lunch sailing into a nearby trash can and grabbed Shanice’s hand. “In case you didn’t hear, Korey, we’re probably the most fun at this school to hang around with anyway. Except for Bri.” He pointed at her and laughed. “Little Bri’s been kinda depressed these days.”

  All of her friends laughed, except for Korey, who was giving her that look again.

  “Shut up,” she hissed, face hot. Did Chas really have to bring up the fact that she was feeling down lately? Next, all she needed was Rob to start in on her prescription drug use. It would really be over then. As if the new guy didn’t already think she was a loser.

  Luckily, Rob came to her rescue, tossing one arm around her shoulders. “Aww, Bri’s okay. She just needs a good friend, that’s all.” Then, mischievously, he added, “Korey, you interested?”

  Which prompted more hilarious laughter from her friends.

  Fuming as they headed off toward their next classes, Bri wondered how she’d lucked out in having the most insensitive friends in the world. Slowly shrugging off her anger as she walked, Bri glanced about, suddenly nervous. Because she felt it. The same IT she’d felt in Aeryal’s bedroom, and it was watching her. Again.

  ****

  Luckily, there was a field trip scheduled for their last class of the day, to some historical site or the other. Bri couldn’t begin to count all the ways she was grateful for that, especially seeing as in the class right before, their teacher had made them sit down and write tribute poems. To Aeryal’s memory. As if Bri didn’t think about the death enough as it was. Then, on top of that, they’d had to read the poems aloud in class.

  A boring field trip was fifty times better than sitting through fifteen poems by grieving classmates. Too bad she couldn’t get the memories out of her head.

  ‘Death. It is permanent.’

  That’s how she’d begun her poem. Bri rapidly blinked away the tears blinding her as she descended the bus steps. Behind her, Deanna and Shanice giggled over some joke from the bus, but Bri wasn’t listening. She so wasn’t in the mood.

  “All right, students,” Mrs. Francois announced, “we are out here to inject history into your young …..,” a long glare at Shanice and Chas starting to make out, “ but corrupted minds. Break it up over there!”

  “Let’s move our groups down the hill a bit. This rock wall that we are standing by was built in 1717. It was the famous lookout point-,” she droned on as the unruly teens reluctantly made their way behind her.

  “Yuck,” Deanna whispered to Bri. Shanice and Chas had already gone ahead, pretending to be entranced in the teacher’s boring lecture. “Can you believe Francois thought this would be a good senior field trip? This sucks.” The last part she said loud enough so that a couple of kids passing glanced over and smiled.

  “Tell me about it,” Bri nodded. She certainly wasn’t in the mood for any kind of history lesson today. Really, all she wanted to do was zone out and think about how unfair it was that Aeryal had to die.

  It was a peaceful day. They stood on a grassy hillside, a smattering of trees on one side, a sharp cliffside drop on the other.

  “Yow.” Deanna stiffened at her side. “Isn’t that the fine new kid, Korey what’s-his-face?” Bri craned her neck to stare up ahead.

  “Yea, it looks so.” With a nudge to her friend’s ribs, she gave her a mischievous glance. “You’re gonna press?”

  Deanna was already adding another layer of gloss to her lips. “Duh, obviously. Wish me luck….like I need it.” With that, Deanna hurried to catch up with Korey, glancing back once to blow a kiss over her shoulder at Bri.

  If there was a definition for over-confident, Deanna Rubaine was a few pages ahead, in the s
ection for ‘obviously’. There wasn’t a boy that wouldn’t fall in love with Deanna after a few minutes of her company, and she used that to her advantage. Long legs, pouty lips and a sweep of heavy lashes, were all tools in Deanna’s arsenal, and too many times, she instructed Bri to, ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em.’

  With her friend gone, Bri released the sigh she’d been keeping and managed to squash the jealous pangs that had risen as she’d watched her friend run after Korey. Having lived next door to Deanna most of her life, Bri knew exactly what was going through her friend’s head. ‘Love ‘em and leave ‘em.’ Her friend was cool, but Bri just wasn’t in the mood to talk about boys, clothes, or sex today. Or listen to gloating about the date that Deanna would undoubtedly talk the new boy into within ten minutes.