Blur (Blur Trilogy) by Steven James Read Free Book Online Page B

occasionall y prone to excess.”
    “Reall y. ”
    “I’ve had m y moments. He y, I heard the y did go through her locker, yo u know, like we were talking about at school.”
    “Who went through her locker?”
    “I don’t know, the school administrators ma yb e. Or her parents. Or the cops. But supposedl y the y found a notebook in there that she’d been writing in on the da y she died. Could have been the last words she ever wrote. You never know.” He devoured the salsa-laden chip. “Makes yo u think.”
    Given what’d happened the last couple da ys , Daniel was more than a little curious about what was in that notebook.
    K yl e checked the time. “Listen, I gotta fl y or m y mom’ll kill me.” He gathered his things. “I’ll catch up with yo u tomorrow.”
    “Sure. Yeah.”
    After K yl e left, Daniel stood at the window and watched him drive awa y.
    Partl y he wished that he’d told him about Emil y rising in her casket and grabbing his arm and leaving her handprint behind, but partl y he thought that was something he should keep to himself.
    For now.
    Probabl y forever.
    As long as nothing else like that happened again, he would be alright. Life would go on and eventuall y he would be able to make sense of it all.
    And that’s what he tried to do as he la y down to sleep.
    But even if it wasn’t her ghost that had grabbed his arm, he still couldn’t understand how he’d known Emil y’ s dog was named Trevor.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN
    Thursda y.
    Time whipped b y.
    The histor y test seemed to go alright.
    Then government. Spanish. Stud y hall. AP Calculus.
    He saw Nicole around, talked to her a little, just in a passing-someone-in-the-halls, how-are- yo u-doing? sort of wa y. But he couldn’t help but think of what K yl e had told him about her, that she didn’t have a date for Saturda y’ s dance. That she liked him.
    Since there was a game tomorrow, football practice was prett y light. At least it went better tonigh t—t he gu ys were more in s yn c than the y’ d been the night before, and things were clicking.
    Daniel was a little slow getting out of the locker room afterward and was one of the last gu ys to head to the parking lot.
    He was nearl y to his car when he saw Stac y emerge from the edge of the woods.
    “He y, ” she said.
    “He y. ”
    She hugged her books to her chest. “I don’t know if we ever officiall y met. I’m Stac y. ”
    She was waiting for yo u. She wanted to talk to yo u!
    “I’m Baniel D ye r s—D aniel. I’m Daniel B ye rs.”
    Oh, yo u are such an idiot!
    A glimmer of a smile. “I know who yo u are.”
    “I know yo u too.”
    “Reall y? ”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “How?”
    “I’ve seen yo u around.”
    “Oh.”
    A long pause.
    “So.”
    “So,” he replied lamel y. “Well, it’s good to meet yo u. Officiall y. ”
    “Good to meet yo u too.” He had the sense that she would reach out to shake his hand, but instead she stared down at the ground between them for a moment, then back at him. “You pla ye d good against Spring Hill.”
    “You were there?”
    A slight e ye roll. “Of course I was there.”
    “Not ever yo ne comes to the games.”
    “I do.”
    “Me too.”
    Dude, that was the stupidest thing ever to sa y!
    “Of course yo u do,” she said lightl y.
    He felt like he wanted to hide somewher e—a n yw her e—b ut when she spoke again she just did so matter-of-factl y and not the least bit in a wa y to make him feel more put on the spot. “Um, I just wanted to wish yo u luck on the game. I mean, the one tomorrow night.”
    “Thanks.”
    She waited.
    Ask her to the dance on Saturda y— a t least get her number.
    “Um . . .” He repositioned his feet. “Sa y, I was wondering . . .”
    “Yes?”
    “About the game.”
    No, not the game, the dance—
    “Yes?”
    He took a deep breath. “So, I was . . .”
    Go on!
    “Um . . . So ma yb e I’ll see yo u there. At the game.”
    “Oh. Sure. So, good luck,” she